Tag Archives: Noy-noy

President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers his 2nd State of the Nation Address (SONA)

It had not been a long time since the elections when our new President shook our world again. In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) for 2010, he gave a burning speech on what he’d been busy with for the past two months. In case you weren’t able to catch the SONA, here’s a copy of it.

Just my two cents on the SONA:

It seems that the checks and balances that are necessary in our system of governance aren’t in place. Why would so many unforeseen projects get implemented to the detriment of planned ones? If proper checks and balances were really in place, such things would not even be possible.

P-Noy revealed a lot of controversial cases. I certainly hope they’re already undergoing due process because otherwise, these exposés could preempt the court’s decision or even be construed as public stunts. But I have to admit that before this SONA, I didn’t know people could have so many bonuses.

Teddy Locsin said on ABS-CBN that he doesn’t believe in “kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” and that structural changes need to be made. I wholeheartedly agree. If we allow our flawed system to continue spawning corruption, we’re simply going to have one public prosecution after another, without effecting a long-term change (especially after P-Noy’s term).

I think it’s great that the government wants to closely collaborate with the private sector. After all, why should the government spend its limited resources on something that private citizens and institutions can do? Along that line, I hope P-Noy realizes that he should leave sex education with the parents because they’re the best people to talk about the topic. He can support this responsibility of parents by strengthening moral education in schools so that our children will grow up to be good parents. But other than that, I think taxpayers’ money should go to tasks that are really concerns of the government.

I’m very happy about the move to make it easy for businesses to register. I’ve tried before (out of a real desire to pay taxes), but the process was just so tedious that it altogether discouraged a newbie like me. If the process were a lot more friendly, I bet many small businesses will emerge, generating more production and taxes.